Survive
by PleaseInsertCoolNameHere
Summary: I don't know how it started, I don't think anyone knows exactly how it started. All I know now is that we have to do what we need to do in order to survive the apocalypse.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

 _"CLARKE HURRY UP!" I heard my dad yell from downstairs. We got a call yesterday saying our area needs to be evacuated by noon. It's literally 15 minutes till noon and I'm trying to fit as much clothes and sketch books into my bag as possible. Okay...well the drawings aren't exactly a 'necessity' but I'm not leaving without them!_

 _"CLARKE!" I practically jump out of my skin at the sound of my dad voice._

 _"I'm coming!" I yell back. I quickly grab my things while I pray to god that I have everything I need. I take one last look at my room with a sigh. I'll miss my room and all the memories from the times my friends came over and all the stupid things we've done to having my first love in here and the nights we spent together. I shake my head of the thoughts and run down stairs before my dad kills me. I just barely put my foot in the car and my dad is already driving away. He's as scared as my mom is. I see it written in there faces so unsure of what's going happen. Even though they're constantly been telling me everything will be okay. I start to notice all the cars pulled in around us, I move my head to the center of the car to see what's going on. Tall men in all black lineup in the middle of the highway blocking everyone from passing. They're taking people out of their cars and stuffing them into big military vans. My stomach churns the wrong way. I have a bad feeling about this. They're coming closer, only a few cars ahead of us. My dad turns his head quickly. I notice the way his eyes shine in the sun. He wants to cry. He glances at my mom and she simply nods her head._

 _"Grab your backpack Clarke" I look at him blankly. I don't dare to move a muscle._

 _"Do as I say Clarke!" His voice drops low almost deadly "Put it on. Here." he hands me the only weapon I know we have. His Colt Panther as well as his watch. I frown at him even though I know what this means. I shake my head violently. no no no this isn't happening. NO!_

 _"No!" I half shout._

 _"Do it Clarke!" He gives me that look. That look that gets me every time. I sigh as I take the gun and watch from him. I look out the window and notice the men are a lot closer now._

 _"Run Clarke….go into the woods...run! Don't stop for anything and don't look back." He says frantically. I look at my mom and see her tear streaked cheeks. My heart is racing so fast it feels as if it's going to run out of my chest faster than I can breath._

 _"Go! Clarke!" I slowly step out of the car so unsure of what I'm doing and scared out of my mind._

 _"RUN CLAR-"_

* * *

"Clarke! Clarke what are you doing? CLARKE!" My head snaps out of it's thoughts at the sound of Ravens voice. I let out an involuntary sigh as I shift back a blanket to look out the window and see a massive herd of walkers coming our way.

"Ah shit." I whisper under my breath as I jump down the boxes to the floor of this grocery store.

"What the hell were you doing just sitting up there?!" She hissed at me as she quickly put her backpack on.

"I was just.. nothing. It was nothing." I put my backpack on and loaded my gun.

"We gotta get moving" Raven simply nods her head at me as Lincoln comes running behind us. We move towards the back of the store. There's a few stray walkers wandering the area. They turn towards us the second we step outside.

"No guns." I whisper. I pull out the knife that was in my boot and move to the closest walker. Raven and Lincoln follow in suit. I grab it's ragged clothing and shove my knife deep into the side of it's head. I push it to the ground as I move to the next one. I can see in my peripherals Lincoln and Raven have done the same. I turn around to see that we have caught the attention of more walkers.

Son of a bitch you can't take two steps without these things following like mosquitoes.

"It'll be quick he said." I glance towards Ravens direction "It'll be easy he said. Nothing's gonna happen he said. It's just a quick run. Don't worry! He fucking said." Raven scoffed as she began shooting walkers in the head.

" You know what else he fucking said?!"

"That'll he be here with the van by now." Lincoln says as he takes his knife out of a walker.

"Yes!" She pretty much yells "So where the fuck is Bellamy?!" She shoots down three walkers in a matter of seconds.

Not gonna lie I like angry Raven, she's so fun to watch. She's all small and tiny yet filled with anger. I pull out my dad's Colt Panther ready to shoot when I hear the screech of tires coming from behind us. That would be Bellamy. Of course. He has to wake up the whole country.

"Guys lets go." I put my gun back and make my way towards the back gate of the parking lot.

Bellamy pulls up on the side " Need a lift?" he laughs at himself as we jump into the car and he speeds off.

"You were supposed to be waiting for us Bellamy not us waiting for you" You can hear the annoyance in Raven's voice.

"We're all here aren't we? I was just on time if you ask me." He says with a hint of a smirk on his face. They banter back and forth while me and Lincoln sit quietly. Lincoln's not one to talk much. Not like when we first meet him, he wouldn't talk at all. He's loosened up in a sense. I wouldn't blame him for not talking though. With the way Bellamy and Raven are. I watch as we pass the trees and the open plains. There's so many times I wish I could just stop time, pull out a pen and paper and just sit and draw for hours on end. I don't even remember the last time I drew. All the stuff I once had Those many months ago are long gone. Thinking about drawing reminds me of my father. It's been almost a year since the last time I saw him. I don't even think he's alive anymore. Hell. I'm surprised I'm alive in all honesty. I have him to thank for that, He knew what he was doing. Took me a while to figure it out. I sigh as I look down at my lap where my hand rests and see his watch he gave me. Out of everything I lost I made sure to never lose the only thing I have left of him.

"You alright there Clarke?" I look up at Bellamy to see his slightly worried eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Raven says that he stares at me all the time. Which is kinda weird but ever since then I have noticed. When were at camp he tends to glance at me a lot, Smiles a lot, or is extra nice to me. She teases me that he likes me. All. The. Dam. Time. She may be right but i really don't have any interest in him. I don't think I could be with anyone at a time like this. You lose people left and right now a days. What's the point of falling for someone if they're just gonna slip from your fingertips.

* * *

"Home sweet camp!" Bellamy yells as we pull into the brush.

"wait" I say. I look more closely at our camp that's a few feet away. Oh you've gotta be kidding me. I quickly get off the van and run to our camp. Pots are scattered all over the ground as well as one of our tents are missing. Most of our stuff is gone. I take a deep breath and run my hands through my hair.

"Get what we can from what's left." I say out loud to everyone. " We're gonna have to keep moving and go somewhere else. They could still be in the area waiting for us to come back."

"I agree, judging by these trail marks they went this way." Lincoln points to the west of us "They would be easy to track down but i wouldn't go following them. There's a better chance they'll see us before we see them." Lincoln's a great tracker and hunter. I don't know much about his past but he's definitely one with nature that's for sure. We pack the last tent as well as the few pots and blankets that were left.

"What are we gonna do about clothes? They took most of our extra clothing." Raven says. she's always had this thing about needed enough clothes.

"We'll find more when we need to. Think of it this way less stuff to carry" Bellamy states.

We pack the last of our stuff into what we can carry and walk back to the van.

"I can drive if you want Bellamy." Lincoln offers.

"No thanks man i got it."

We all get in ready to go. Just to realize that we're out of gas. Today's been just great.

"Looks like we're walking then." I say. Reluctantly we all get out of the van.

I can feel Bellamy's stare. It's burning a hole through my head. I slightly walk faster in an effort to get as far away as I can. Raven comes up to me and links her arm around mine.

"You should give him a chance ya know."

"Excuse me?"

"Bellamy. I think you guys could be cute together." Oh god no.

"I'm good thanks." I say as I glance behind us. He's honestly not even cute. "Why don't _you_ ask him out?" I say to raven with a slight smirk. she pulls away from me slightly with wide eyes. I can't help at the chuckle that leaves my throat.

"That's not funny. He's so annoying. Let alone stupid. There's no way I would ever be interested in him." She shakes her head and acts like she's about to throw up. I roll my eyes at her while a small smile plays on my lips.

I notice the big enough clearing up ahead. That would make a good camp. It's already getting dark anyways.

"This should be good enough for the night" Bellamy says "Besides i'm ready to sleep."

we all nodded our heads in agreement and set up a little makeshift camp for the night.

Lincoln sits with his back against a tree "I'll take first watch." He says.

I lay down on my blanket and look at the stars that are beginning to show as it gets darker. I wonder what I would be doing right now if the world was back to normal. Well I guess back to the way it was. The more days that pass, This feels normal. Everything that once was or who we were back then seems almost foreign now. This. This has become normal.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

 _"Clarke come down for breakfast!" My mom yells from down stairs._

 _"Coming." I say as I as I put my homework in my backpack. I go down stairs to find my mom watching the news on the little TV we have in the kitchen. I notice the news is talking about that virus that's apparently going around. There's been a lot of talk about it lately but I honestly don't think any of it's true. Not with how people are, someone yells Ebola and everyone within a ten mile radius is all of a sudden infected._

 _"Morning mom." I say while I take a seat at the counter._

 _"Morning sweetie." she hands me my plate of eggs and bacon while My dad comes running in. He Grabs the coffee on the table that my mom put out for him, almost spilling it in the process. He's always running late._

 _"Got to go ladies. See you after work."_

 _"Bye dad." I give him a kiss on the cheek. He gives my mom a kiss goodbye and is out the door in a flash. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I take it out and smile at the name that appears on the screen._

 _"I'll be right back mom." she simply nods her head but keeps her attention towards the TV. she's into all that stuff they talk about on the news too much honestly._

 _I run up the stairs, straight into my room and answer the phone._

 _"Hey you."_

 _"Hey cutie..." I frown at the sadness that's clearly written in the voice._

 _"Ash what's wrong? Are you okay?"_

 _"yeah, yeah, I'm fine Clarke. I just have some bad news." My heart suddenly sinks to my stomach. oh god._

 _I stay quiet for a few moments "what's…what's the bad news?"_

 _"I'm moving away Clarke. Like right now. My parents have gone insane and they're so sure something's gonna happen pretty soon with that virus that's going around. They're paranoid I'm telling you! They wanna be as far away from here as possible" It comes out all in one rush of her breath. You know that feeling when you get hit by a truck? Yeah that's how I feel right now._

 _"No this can't be happening you can't just move away! what about school? basketball?!...What about-me?" My voice comes out a lot more hurt than I expected it to be._

 _"I know Clarke, I know. But I don't have a choice. They already decided and I'm literally leaving any minute now."_

 _"Where are you even going to go?"_

 _"I don't know." there's a long silence as I just sit on my bed. She can't just leave… What i am i going do. My whole world seems to be falling around me._

 _"Clarke?" Her voice is so soft._

 _"yeah?"_

 _"I love you." My heart aches at the way she says it._

 _"I love you too."_

* * *

I wake up to a stinging pain in my back. Ugh. God you would think that I would be used to sleeping on the ground by now. My back says otherwise. I look to my side to notice Raven messing with some radio or something. She's always saving things she finds just to take them apart and put them back together. If we're lucky she'll find something we can use. Bellamy and Lincoln on the other hand are no where to be found.

I sit up slowly and stretch "hey." I say to Raven.

"Morning. Bellamy and Lincoln went to go look for breakfast"

"Oh, okay." I stand up and stretch out my legs. Yup I could really use a travel size pop up bed.

I plop down against a tree and pull out my gun so I can clean it. I like cleaning My gun it's honestly the only relaxing thing to do. I glance at raven to notice she's lost in her own world. I remember when I first meet her. We ran into each other at a warehouse. And by running into each other I literally mean we ran into each other. I was running around a corner while Raven came running around the opposite end. There's something about physically running into someone that blossoms a friendship. We ended up being surrounded in this warehouse and having to jump out of the one of the windows to get away. Ever since then we've been pretty much inseparable. It was just me and her for a couple months. She wasn't all 'bad ass' as she calls herself now. She was like me. Scared. We didn't know what the hell to do or where to go. She had a radio that she constantly used to try to get in touch with someone. But the frequency was never strong enough. We tried some places that were said to be safe but it was already six months into the end of the world that we soon found out there is no safe place anymore. We were on our own. It was a tough realization and a hard time for us both. I told her about my dad and what he did for me. She told me how her parents just got up and left. Never came back. It's sad to think that parents could do that to their kid. Especially to someone like Raven, she's probably the smartest girl in the world. She deserved better than that.

We once stayed in a neighborhood for a month. Moving from house to house after a couple of nights. Till a herd came through and almost killed us. Bellamy saved our lives. I'll always be grateful for that. Bellamy can handle himself when it matters most. He's not stupid. Raven would say otherwise because of the things he tends to say. When it counts the most, I can count on him to be there. I trust him as I trust all three of them with my life. Lincoln wasn't all that easy to trust. We found him while were out looting for food. He pretty much just stayed with us. He proved to be very helpful though. He showed us how to hunt and track. The proper way according to him.

We all didn't have anybody when we meet. Either we were alone or looking for someone. Like Bellamy had his mind set on finding his sister, Octavia.

He constantly talked about her when we first meet him. How he needed to find her. He loves his sister so much to say the least. It was obvious he would do anything for her. He hasn't talked much about her anymore. I think maybe he's lost hope that she's alive somewhere. It's hard to have faith and hope when you're out here. When you're on your own especially. You get stripped of everything. It's like your almost naked. What do you have when you're naked? Do you have faith? Do you have hope? Or do you just suck it up and keep going? Its a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to realize. Who you are and who you need to be are two different things and along the way we lose a little bit of one to help gain the other.

* * *

I hear branches crack coming from behind me. I look around trying to see through the trees but Don't see anyone.

Hmm. Weird.

"I did it!" Raven jumps up and comes running towards me.

"Did what exactly?" She hands me this old battery powered radio that she used to carry around. I thought she lost this.

"I've been working on this one for the longest time. Trying to look for the right parts that would help give it a stronger signal. It's taken me forever to find the part I needed. But when we were at the grocery store I found one exactly like it. So hopefully this one works. Wanna try it?" Couldn't hurt I suppose.

I nod my head "Sure lets give it a try" I tell her. She sets it down and turns it on. It sounds a lot stronger than it did before. There's nothing but static. I look at Raven who frowns at it. She moves the little dial trying to find anything. Nothing comes up but more static.

"Well it works better than before. There has to be something. Someone."

"Once we keep moving. We'll try it again. We are in the middle of the woods after all."

"True True."

Just then Bellamy and Lincoln come walking from in front of us. Bellamy looks as if he's won the lottery. He throws the four rabbits over his shoulder and smiles wide.

"Breakfast is here!" My stomach growls pretty loudly. I'm a lot more hungry then I thought.

Bellamy and Lincoln sit down by the fire and start to cleaning the rabbits. I put my gun back together and put it in the holster that's on my hips.

I start packing some things so we can be ready to leave after we eat.

* * *

"So with the few cans of food we got at the grocery store and the extra berries and such we have...we'd probably be good for the next three days" Bellamy says while he eats the meat of his rabbit

"Oh!" Raven jumps up like she just saw the world's largest spider. She's been really jumpy today.

"We got this!" She pulls out a can of spray cheese. She has what looks to be the biggest smile I've ever seen her have. Wait…when the hell did she get that?

"Yes we can just eat canned cheese for the remainder of the week" Lincoln says as I shake my head to Raven. She simply shrugs her shoulders and puts it back in her bag.

"You act like we gotta eat everyday or something ." Bellamy says with a smile on his face

"Oh yes let's just die one by one from starvation. No big deal or nothing." I say in the least sarcastic way as possible.

"Hey, that's a good way to save food." Oh my god. I roll my eyes at him and take another bite of my breakfast.

A nice silence falls around us as we continue eating.

Lincoln's head shoots up as he looks around us. We all stop eating and turn to look at him. He frowns as he looks back at his rabbit. I look at Bellamy and he shrugs his shoulders. Maybe he heard something like how I did earlier.

"Mind if I join you?" I have my gun out quicker than you can blink. A brown haired boy quickly throws his hands up in defense. I notice he doesn't have any visible weapons on him.

"whoa whoa I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you guys. I was in the area and smelled the meat. I haven't eaten in a couple days." He tries walking closer but Bellamy and I stand in front of our little fire. The boy takes a slight step back.

"What's your name?" Bellamy says from beside me.

"My name is Finn. Finn Collins."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"How long have you been watching us?" I narrow my eyes at the boy.

"What? I haven't been watching you. I just noticed you were here." I don't like him. There's something off about this.

"I understand that this is kinda weird for me to just pop up out of no where like this so i'll let you guys just go ahead and talk it over." He takes a couple steps back " I'll be over here." He smiles at me.

"Well" I lean my head slightly to the side so I can hear Bellamy's whisper but keep my eyes on the long haired boy. "If we let him stay we'll only have food for today and tomorrow."

"He's pretty cute we should keep him." We all give Raven a look. She acts like she doesn't know what she did. "I'm just saying."

"I don't know guys. How bad can he be? I'm not saying we should trust him or anything but I know when I needed someone there for me when I was all alone. You guys were it. Let's just let him stay for today and see where tomorrow takes us." Bellamy and Raven nod there head in agreement. They all turn and look at me.

I look between the three of them. I sigh slightly as I say "Alright He can stay. But only for the next couple days." Raven smiles at me. She quickly turns back towards the boy.

"You can stay." She tells him. His face lights up as he starts to walk closer to us.

"I don't trust him, Bellamy." I say to him in a whisper. He nods his head to me

"I know. I don't either."

Bellamy walks up to him. He's pretty much in his face and tells him "If you try anything, anything at all. I'll kill you myself." Finn's eyes widen slightly as he nods his head really fast. I smirk at Bellamy's little over protectiveness. He thinks he's in charge. How cute.

"We're heading out in a few." Lincoln says as finishes the last of his food.

"Here Finn." Raven throws him a can of peaches. "You can eat that for now."

He smiles at her "Thank you." She smiles back.

Now they just look like two idiots smiling at each other. I roll my eyes as I look down on the ground to see my half eaten rabbit. I guess I won't be finishing breakfast today. I look over at Bellamy whose devouring his last part of his Rabbit. His fell on the ground too….oh god. I shake my head as I move to grab my backpack.

"Oh My names Lincoln. The short brunette is Raven." He motions his head towards Raven who in return gives Finn a very big smile again. She would. "That's Bellamy." Bellamy doesn't even look up, " last but not least." He points me "That is Clarke." I look at him and give him a small smile. I can be nice at times.

After breakfast we pack the last of our things. Lincoln heads out in front followed by Raven, and I. Finn comes walking behind us as Bellamy pulls up the end. We don't really know where we're going. We usually just wander the area trying to find supplies. It's kinda hard with no motive. We're just wondering along with no exact intentions. We're as dead out here as the walkers trying to eat us.

I think Raven feels that way too. That's why she started working on the radio again. It Gives her something to do. Something to look forward to. Something to hope for.

* * *

We continue walking for about the next 2 hours. there's no sign of a road or anything. Not to mention how freaking hot it is. I grab my canteen just to notice it's almost empty.

"I'm gonna go look for water." I say to the group. Lincoln and Raven both nod their heads to me.

"I'll come with" Finn says. No. Please don't.

I look at him as well as everyone else. Finn comes up to me and smiles.

"Come on princess, let's go." He smirks at me as he disappears behind the bush.

Bellamy laughs "Go ahead _princess ."_ I scowl at him.

"Watch your head before I bang it against a tree Bellamy." I say over my shoulder as I walk the direction Finn went. He wasn't to far ahead so I caught up to him easily.

"Don't call me princess." He laughs at my comment.

"Why not? Blond hair, Blue eyes. You might as well be a princess." I narrow my eyes at the taller boy. "Just saying, _Clarke."_

We walk in silence the next few minutes till I hear the sound of running water.

"Sooo-"

"Shh. Listen." Finn frowns at me and looks around us.

"What exactly am I listening for?" He whispers to me.

"Water." I walk faster towards to the sound. I move toward the sound as it becomes louder and louder. It sounds almost like a waterfall. I start sprinting towards the sound of rushing water. I can hear Finn's heavy footsteps behind me. The thought of a whole river full of water is sending my mind haywire. I move a big branch aside and see a little waterfall with the water filling into a slightly big lake. The water looks so cold. I don't even know when the last time I felt what it was like to have water all over my body. I'm half ready to jump in when Finn grabs my arm.

"Wait." He points down towards the water and I notice the sudden ripples in the water. The water is moving. Maybe it's fish. What I would do for some fish right now.

He frowns as we move closer. I notice blood on a few rocks around the bank of the lake. The blood trail runs into the woods but the opposite direction we came. Finn grabs a stick, walks a little ways into the water then pokes around.

Just then a walker comes running out of the water straight for Finn. It's skin is dark grey color as it looks so droopy on the skeleton of it's body. Finn stumbles trying to take a step back, he lands on his back as the walker gets yanked back into the deeper part of the water. It has a chain around it's neck to keep it from escaping. I help Finn move out of the way as the walker tries again but is unsuccessful. Who would tie up a walker and have it living in the water? Why the hell would you even want to do that? Judging by how it looks it's been there for quite some time.

"Well so much for the water." Finn says as he brushes off his clothing. I look down at the trail of blood.

"Come on." I take out my gun and walk on full alert in the direction the blood is going. Finn follows close behind. We follow the blood trail to this big open field. It's a farm. I notice a small little white house in the distance. There's a barn that isn't too far away from where we stand.

"Stay by the tree line. We don't want anyone seeing us." We walk towards the barn, the first thing I notice is there's tire marks following the treeline. Second, the door to the barn is slightly open.

"This has bad written all over it you know that right princess?" Finn says in a low voice.

"Don't call me that, and I want to know what's behind that water walker back there." I whisper to him. We're a few yards away from the barn now. We're gonna have to make like the wind to get over there. The little all white house looks a lot further now. Hopefully no one is home.

"On the count of three. we make a break for the barn. understood?" Finn looks unsure but nods his head.

"One…"

I glance around one last time before taking a deep breath.

"Three!" I sprint out into the open field leaving the phased boy behind me. It takes him a moment to quickly run after me. I reach the barn and put my back to the door that is closed. As I catch my breath a glance at Finn. He doesn't have any weapon in his hand. Or at all in that matter.

"Finn."

He lifts his pointer finger up to me as he bends over trying to catch his breath. After a few more deep breaths he stands up straight and turns to look at me.

"Why didn't you say two?!" He asks in a slight hushed voice.

"That's besides the point. Where the hell is your weapon?" He looks at me as if he doesn't understand what i'm saying. He hasn't had a weapon since earlier today when he found us.

"Oh..uhhh. I got this." He digs in his pocket and pulls out a little pocket knife. How in the world is this boy alive. Does he have some sort of walker repellent I don't know about? Cause hell he better cough it up. He's still staring at me waiting to say something. I sigh and pull out the machete that I had in my backpack.

"You'll probably need a little bigger knife Finn." I had him the machete. He takes it in his hand and looks at it. He looks like a little kid who's getting to hold a big knife for the first time. Seriously though, how is he still here?

"Now what?" I frown at him. Oh yes the barn.

"Okay come on." I slightly open the door of the barn and point my gun straight in as I step in. The barn looks almost pitch black except for the the little rays of light coming from the open doors. I scrunch my nose at the the smell that's enfolded in the barn. Finn opens the door a little more to get better light. He makes a slight groan as he puts his hand up to his nose. It smells as bad as death in here.

Oh no. Walkers.

I grab Finn by the arm and pull him out of the barn just then the barn door close. One Tall gray haired man with a rifle, locks it then turns around and points his gun at us. Well shit.

"I could shoot y'all right here right now and no one would know." The man says in a very thick southern accent.

"We're sorry we didn't realize.." Finn says to the bearded man.

"Was that you, with the walker in the water?" I say to him.

"His name is Albert." The man hisses at me. I'm slightly taken aback by the tone of the man.

"He helps bring food to my family and friends." He motions his head behind him. "My daughter and wife are in their." realization dawns on me when I finally realize what the man is saying. Now would be the perfect time to run for our lives away from this crazy man.

"We didn't mean to invade your farm. We'll just be on your way." I say as I slightly lean against Finn who seems to be planted into the ground.

The man lowers his rifle slightly.

"Once the CDC gets their things in order, I'm gonna make sure my daughter is one of the first ones turned back."

I feel sorry for this man.

"I don't really…" My eyes widen as I stomp of Finns foot to get him to shut up. He groans and leans forward slightly.

"I hope you daughter gets turned back." I say as the man. He looks between me and Finn suspiciously. "We should really get going now." I say as I move Finn again. We take a couple steps and the mean speaks again.

"Y'all got a group?"

Damn it. Doesn't this man just let us leave. I give Finn a warning look as I look back to the man.

"No. It's just me and him."

"Then y'all must be hungry! You can come on down to my house over then and I can feed y'all"

"Thank you but really that isn't necessary."

"We'll if you already have eating what did you eat?"

"I had a can of peaches." Finn says. You can hear how uneasy this whole thing is becoming. The man looks over at me.

"I had the same."

"Oh come on a can of peaches is nothing!" This man is persistent.

"Really, sir. It's no big deal we'll just be on our way.." I point behind us towards the woods.

"I must insist." He picks up his gun slightly so that it's pointing directly towards us. "That y'all come over to my house."

I swallow the lump that's in my throat. This is gonna be harder than I thought. I nod my head to the man and we walk closer to him. He smiles slightly which I notice he's missing a couple of his front teeth. He walks around the side of the barn towards the back.

Finn hits my arm slightly. He whispers frantically to me so the man won't hear.

"What are you doing? Now how are we gonna get back?"

"You don't think I'm trying to think of a plan Finn?"

"We could have just bolted away multiple times by now!"

"When? Right after you tell him his daughter is never coming back? We'd end up becoming 'Albert's' Next meal!" I notice there's an old John Deere utility vehicle behind the barn. He's been here the whole time.

"Just play along till I can figure out a way out of here." I whisper to Finn as we reach the vehicle.

The man motions his hand for us to get into the back. Finn and I climb into the back of the vehicle as the man starts to take off. I look past the barn and into the woods. Finn was right. This does have bad written all over it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

We arrive at the man's white house. It's a lot bigger up in person. White porch with a wooden rocking chair and a table to the side. He has an old green truck parked on the side of the house as well as a black car next to it. There's several trees lining the area which makes for great shade around the house. He pulls up to the side of the house as Finn and I get out.

"I don't usually get to see a lot of people nowadays. So it's nice to have you both here." He smiles at us. This explains his need to have us stay. Finn looks at me and I can see he's thinking the same thing.

As we walk into the house it seems to be pretty clean. There's a staircase in the middle of the house that leads to an upstairs. There's a big living room to the left. I can see another door that leads to another room in the back of the living room. He has pictures of what I'm guessing is his family lining the walls. As well as painting of the landscapes. Beautiful landscapes. A few I can tell are paintings of the land around the barn.

"My daughter." he walks up next to me. I didn't realize I was staring at this one painting of the little white house in an open field. "She was an amazing artist."

I smile slightly at the man. "I can tell." I feel a slight pain in my chest as I look over at another painting that seems to hit me with a bolder. The painting is of trees. The base of the trees are at the bottom while the tree is going up into the top of the canvas almost as if it's popping right out of the painting.

* * *

" _Clarke? Clarke what are you doing?" I can hear the amusement in my dads voice._

 _"These trees are so beautiful. I have to draw them!" I say as I sit down on a rock and take out my sketchbook and pencil._

 _"You do realize we can't stop every two minutes for you to draw everything. This is a nature walk, not a nature draw." He laughs as he takes a seat next to me._

 _"I know, I know dad but imagine looking at a drawing and these trees seem to be popping out the top of the paper!" I quickly get started as I look from the trees to the paper. I can feel my father's smiles radiate off of him as he sits and watches me. He tells me a few things I should do to make it looks better. We laugh as I continue the drawing. About an half hour later I finish the drawing._

 _I raise it up to the tree and look over at my father. He gives his best judging face which I can't help but laugh at. He glances down at me and smirks._

 _"Looks almost identical." I grin at my dad as he puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head. I look down at my drawing. It really does look like the threes are coming out._

* * *

 _"_ You okay there?" I shake my head as I frown at the tall bearded man next to me.

"Oh yes I'm fine." He looks at me one more time before turning to the side,

"Come to the dining room and i'll get you something to eat and drink."

Finn walks up to me, touches my arm softly and whispers,

"You alright there Clarke? you kinda just zoned out."

"Yeah, I'm Good Finn." He gives a slight nod of his head as we walk into the dining room.

After I take a few deep breaths to relax my emotions I just began to notice the house is cool. I'm not all hot like I was outside. This man has air conditioning. The man flips the switch on the wall and turns on the light to the dining room. Oh. My. God. I almost completely forgot there was a such thing as light switches. Finn looks as shocked as I do. The man turns and looks at us. He laughs at the look on our faces.

"Why don't you have a seat?" He motions to the table and we take a seat. The man brings out a pitcher of iced tea. Iced tea... _iced tea._

What even is ice? Oh my god.

The man grabs two glasses and pours us some. I take the glass and Feel the coldness of the drink on my hand. I take a drink and I think I've just dead and gone to heaven. Dear lord this is probably the best thing I have ever tasted. The look of Finns wide eyes as he takes another big gulp tells me he thinks the same.

"I'm sorry." says the man. I turn and look at him. "I never got y'all's names."

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm Clarke."

"My name is Finn."

The man smiles at us "Finn and Clarke. I think those two names go together." He says with a wink. Of course he says that.

"And your name?" I say to the man.

He stands up with the pitcher of now empty tea, "I'm Doug."

"Well Doug I really thank you for giving us this amazing tea, and letting us into your home but we should really get going now." The man looks at me suspiciously.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" I look at the man then back at Finn. Ah crap. My mind goes blank as I try to think of a reasonable reason to leave.

"We have to find my brother." I look at Finn questionably "Bellamy." I sigh as I look at the man.

"You have a brother?"

"Yes, we got separated a couple days ago. We've been looking for him since." Finn looks down at his glass. It's empty like mine but he still is looking at it. His eyes go dark as you can see him get consumed in a sad memory. I wonder if that's how I look when I zone out of thoughts of my dad.

"I miss him like crazy. He means the world to me and we're always there for each other." He smiles a sad smile. "I need him as much as he needs me. It's hard without him. He makes this whole world a lot easier." He looks up at me and Doug "I know it's only a couple days." He chuckles lightly "It feels like months though." He hands Doug the glass back.

Okay either he's the best liar ever or there's a lot more to Finn then I thought.

Doug looks down at the glass. The air in the dining room seems to have grown thick with sadness.

"I can tell how much he means to you Finn." He takes a seat down in the table. "My daughter means the world to me. I would do anything for her. To have her back." His eyes start to glisten as he looks up to a family picture. "My whole family. I miss them more than words can explain."

"My wife she." He pauses for a couple of minutes. "She was turned first, by one of those things passing through the woods. She was gone for the rest of the day. I left my daughter at home while I went out looking." He looks down at the red table runner that is in the middle of the table. I glance at Finn whose eyes are locked on the sad man.

"My daughter she begged me not to go..but I told her I needed to find mommy." His shoulders droop. You can see his sadness written on his whole body. "I was only gone for a couple hours you see not even that long! I came back to find my wife taking a chunk of my daughter's arm off as she screams for her life. I grabbed my wife and pulled her off of my daughter. My daughter told me just to kill them both. That her mommy was already dead and now she's gonna die as well. She begged me. She didn't want to become one of those things." A tear falls from his face but he quickly swipes it away. "I never listened to her. I put her in the barn and left her there." He clears his throat while he fiddles with his fingers. I look down at my lap unable to look at the man anymore.

"I had finally mustered up enough courage to do what she had always wanted me to do, then I meet Albert." He stands up and takes the pitcher with him back to the kitchen. I frown as the man disappears behind the closed door. I turn to Finn. Finn looks lost in his own world. He hasn't looked up for a while now. I was about to call his name when the man came in with a full pitcher and some sandwiches.

"Here. Eat." My body moves so quickly without me even thinking. I grab one of the little sandwiches and start devouring it like I haven't eaten my whole entire life. Well by the taste of this sandwich makes me think I haven't eaten anything in my life. Finn seems to be shaken of his thoughts at the sight of the food. After several minutes of silence. Finn and I finish our food. The man glances at us both occasionally before speaking again.

"Albert was a good man. His son worked for the CDC. He had gotten a few telephone calls from his son saying they were working on a way to fix this thing before it gets worse then it already is. Months passed by as things got worse but he never lost hope in his son." He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"Albert went insane. He lost everything he just went mad one day. He kept saying he needed to be with his son. I told him to have some faith that god will protect him and his son. He was already too far gone. Mentally that is. I sent Albert to go get us some water for dinner one day. He was gone for hours. I got that sick pain in the pit of my stomach. I went out, almost dark, to go look for him. I went to the lake I notice some bubbles coming out of the water. I walked in to get a closer look just have Albert come walking out at me. His eyes were blue as he growled at me trying to grab me. A chain around his neck that was attached to the rocks. He killed himself."

My breath gets caught in my throat. Dead silence falls all around us, No one moves a muscle. I can't pull my eyes away from Doug. The grey haired man looks like a little kid, haunted by the memory from his past.

That's where Doug gets his inspiration to believe that one day he'll have his daughter back. Albert's hope _lives_ in Doug. He doesn't wanna lose his hope. He doesn't wanna get to point where he says he has to die too. His hope of getting his daughter back. Which is probably not the best hope, But it's what is helping him survive. We either live by something, Or don't live at all.

Doug sighs as he looks at me then back to Finn.

"You can take my green truck that's out there. Use it to get to the next city."

I'm taken aback by what he says. It takes me a minute to even register what he said.

"Oh no Doug we can't take your truck.." I say in protest to the man.

"No please. I want you both to have it. Take it to find your brother." He looks at Finn with sympathetic eyes. "Take it to find your place in this world." He turns and looks at me. I frown slightly at the man. His words get me thinking. What exactly is my place?

"My place is here in my farm. With my family. With Albert. The least I Can do is help you find yours."

"Thank you." Finn says to the man. Doug simply smiles and stands up from the table.

"I'll pack you some canned foods for your trip and a few water bottles." He disappears behind the door before coming back in a few minutes with a backpack full of food. He has the keys in his hand as well as something else.

"Clarke." He puts the bag down and turns to me. "I want you to have this." He hands me a little bracelet with a name written on it. "It belonged to my daughter. Emily. It was a gift from her mother. I want you to have it." I open my mouth to protest but he puts his hand up in response. He shakes his head and pulls my hand out in front of me to put the bracelet in it. "You have a connection with her. I saw by the way you looked at that painting out there. Remember my daughter. Let her guide you. Like she has guided me since she was born." He says with a smile. He lets go of my hand and I feel as if I'm about to break down right then and there. It takes everything in me not to just wanna cry right here right now. Finn grabs the backpack and keys.

"Thank you Doug. Truly." Doug nods his head in response.

"If you leave now you'll get to the nearest city before sundown." We all walk outside to the side of the house. We stand by the truck and look out to the fields and the small road leaving the area.

"Go down this road till you reach the main road. Then turn right. Keep on right till you reach the city." He points in the direction of the road and Finn nods his head. He opens the door and gets in. I smile at Doug and thank him for the food and giving me his daughter's bracelet. I assure him I will never forget her.

As we drive away from the little white house I glance back to see Doug waving in this distance.

I kinda feel bad about leaving Doug all alone out here. I kinda wish I could stay with him but I know I can't. I need to get back to my friends. They're probably freaking out by now. Especially raven. This is the longest I've been away from her since we meet. I look down at the bracelet. I put it next to my dad's watch. I didn't even know the girl but for Doug I will never forget her.

"Did you notice what he said about Albert?" I Turn and look at Finn who glances at me but keeps his eyes on the road ahead. "He killed himself and still turned into a walker." Oh yea, That's a good point.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"You know what the means right?" I look out into the endless tall grass fields and notice a group of walkers walking in the distance.

"It means no matter how we die, we'll all become a walker." It's in all of us.


End file.
